Sticks and Stones
by lacyleann7
Summary: An unfortunate assassin is captured and tortured and kept as a "companion" to a druid named Twigs. This is the assassin's story as he trys to over come the pains of his new life, and make the discussion to become someone new or continue on his path of murder.
1. Chapter 1

Hello all! I recently began writing a small story about the latest DnD campaign I'm in, and when my DM found out he asked me if I would share it on here. The story takes place in the forgotten realms setting. In the region of Faerun, in the country of Damara. It is narrated by an npc. A few warnings I would like to get out of the way before I post the first chapter are as followed: there will be character death, cussing, violence, drug use, adult themes, and very bad spelling. Thank you Tim and Leah for helping with the edits! Please feel free to leave any feed back at all good or bad.

Chapter 1

The orc pulled his bloodied fist away from my brother's rib cage, smiling at his handy work. Kydrin, my brother, took in a sharp breath as he was assaulted, now he was coughing on that air. He returned the orc's sheepish smile, before he spit out blood on the wood floors.

"You ready to tell us what you scum are doing here, and why you're after these maps?" The halfling that sat across the room, at a table, looked up lazily as he smoothed one of the maps onto the table.

"We came looking for your mom. We heard she had a nice set of tits." Kydrin, my brother, spit blood onto the orc's leather boots to finish his comment that I knew was coming. He always seemed to have a clever antic about someone's mother.

The halfling interrogator took in a deep breath as he sat back down in his rickety wood chair. Slowly he reached into the folds of his shirt and pulled out a dagger. Rubbing the tip between to gloved fingers as he spoke, "I don't have time to interrogate you *** holes any more. Bloodgrin," he gestured to the orc, "have some fun with them." The halfling reached again into his shirt, this time he produced a small dirty handkerchief that he began to polish his dagger with.

"Thanks boss." Bloodgrin's smile split his ugly face into two even halves divided by pointed rigid teeth. He balled up his massive hand again and smashed into the other side of Kydrin's ribcage. I could hear the cracking of his bones. A groan of pain escaped Kydrin's lips, and he quickly tried to cover it with a giggle. This giggle further enraged Bloodgrin who let out a growl before landing another punch to Kydrin's temple.

I took in a deep breath and looked away from my brother's beating. I concentrated on the sound of my heart pounding in my ears, but I couldn't manage to block out the sounds of fists hitting flesh a few feet from me. It seemed to me that Kydrin always managed to get us stuck in some inn, in some backwoods town, run by some kind of thieves' guild, and then run his mouth off to them. The current situation was along the same lines: The two of us were tied to chairs in the private back room of the Windy Pass, where half of the local thieves' guild, seven guys, were watching an orc pound my brother's face in for some smart comment. Unfortunately this situation was a bit more drastic than any prior. Seven members of the local thieves guild known as Tight Purse, were seated around the room where heavily armed, and didn't look like they where going to leave without answers. When we get out of this mess, like we always somehow managed to do, I would be lecturing Kydrin on his sharp tongue and how to keep it quiet.

"Why don't you see if you can suck your bosses ****. I'm sure you will get more noise out of him." My brother raised his voice quite a bit; grabbing my attention. Judging by his current state, I must have been lost in thought for a while. He looked terrible by now; one eye swollen shut, his nose so misshapen and swollen that blood stopped pouring from it, a deep purple spot forming on his cheek that mixed in with his black eye. He held his head a little to the left and blood dripped from the corner of his mouth. He took in sharp shallow breaths as he sat slumping in his chair.

Something was different about this group of Tight Purcs. Their attitudes from when they first caught us was different then a normal Tight Purse thieves guild. Even now they knew they would not get any large amounts of information out of us, we where only lackeys, but they tortured us anyway. Thieves guilds rarely ever spilled blood, that was the jobs of the assassins, the Night Masks.

The orc had momentarily stopped beating Kydrin and was refreshing himself with a pint of stout, as he talked to his boss in hushed tones. Kydrin glanced over to me, flashing a brief bloody smile. He always thought working his way out of these situations was the best part of being a Night Mask. I glared back at him, giving him the "I is not funny" look. The orc smashed his empty cup on the table and whipped his mouth clean of the beer foam. The orc and the halfling hunched over the rickety wood table and inspected the maps we had stolen while in town. I couldn't make out a single word they where saying, but the Halfling was pointing out different places on the map with his dagger. "See if you get anything out of the other one" the halfling instructed the orc as they turned to face us.  
Bloodgrin cracked his green knuckles as he approached me; pleased at the thought of having a fresh canvas to work with no doubt. I could smell his foul breath as laughed at me when I cringed away from him.

"What's wrong you ****? You done with me so fast! Didn't hurt your hand did you?" This was another of my brother's clever tactics. Yell loud enough and you won't hear your little brother's face getting pounded in. As Bloodgrin began to turn back to my screaming brother the large wooden door of the room was flung open.

The seven other thieves seemed to be caught off guard by the commotion. Some stood up and grabbed their weapons, others stayed seated and simply turned in their chairs to see the intruders.

A shorter slick female, donned as an assassin of some sort, slipped into the doorway wirily. Daggers lined her slim frame like some kind of strange armor. They contrasted sharply with her black clothes. She quietly surveyed the room from the door post, and seemed to disappear into the woodwork. "What is this nonsense!" The halfling in charge of our interrogation and Bloodgrin's boss was glaring at my brother as he yelled. I glanced at Kydrin, I had no idea who this person was, and she didn't seem like a Night Mask.

As I looked over at my brother I realized the interrogator was not speaking to Kydrin, but a dwarf. The dwarf, holding himself as high as he could like all dwarfs do, was glaring, toe to toe, at the orc. Bloodgrin was returning the intimidating look with ease. The dwarf's armor glinted in the light cast from the lanterns and candles that were gathered around the room. An axe and hammer crossed over his back, each of them well used. The beard on the dwarf was almost as long as he was tall, braided in some places and loose in most. He had an intimidating air to him, but it was lost against the orc covered in blood before him.

"I thought I smelled the ass end of a goat, and I was right." The dwarf reached up for his axe, as he belted his anger. More commotion interrupted the dwarf's anger, as the door, still wide open, produced two more people from the shadows behind it.

The first was a young human male. His finely crafted robes swooshing as he timidly entered the room. All the thieves were watching the door as he walked in and he gave them a nervous glance. In one hand he clutched a staff so hard his knuckles where white. With his other hand he nervously swept his dirty blonde bangs from his face. He looked as if he were about to speak but was shoved from the door way before he could find his words. The woman who shoved him was of human descent as well. Her dress red was odd, almost like it was made for someone else, and if her hips where any wider she would not be able to fit it over her frame. She carried no weapons with her, but her presence in the room lacked no intimidation. Her hair was unkempt and seemed to have collected a few leaves and twigs.

The unkempt woman surveyed the room for a split second, before her eyes reached one of the thieves seated at a table in a corner of the room. "Oh my. Wormtail, what is happening in here?" The woman's voice sounded forced, and her smile showed the same fake sincerity. Wormtail looked as unpleased with the turn of events as a halfling could. He shook his head, slowly covered his face with his hands, and took a sharp inhale before speaking.

"What are you doing here Twigs?" Wormtail shot a nasty look in Twigs' direction.

"Are these men Night Masks?" Twigs completely ignored Wormtail's question, and was now staring at me. I fidgeted in my seat, something about her, and they her eyes burned into me made me nervous.

"We are not sure about that yet." The interrogator replied.

Twigs turned to him and gave a small node and curtsy. He didn't return the gesture. The dwarf standing before my brother, and the orc, brought his attention to us. "Have you checked their backs? Every Night Mask has a tattoo on their back." The interrogator's chair made a scrapping noise as he pushed it out from the table. He toyed with his dagger menacingly as he made his way to my brother. Kydrin had passed out and was slouching in his chair. The interrogator cut open my brother's blood stained shirt and bonds in one swift movement. Kydrin's limp body fell from the chair when his shirt was let go. He smacked the wood floor without flinching. The tattoo of the Night Shades clearly visible on his back.

I watched Kydrin's limp body, horrified, for any signs of breath. The people in the room continued to converse with each other, but I blocked them out as I watched the limp body before me. I was about to scream. To shout for him to run now that his bonds were cut, and to breathe. Damn it breathe!

Then there was a slow shallow intake of air, not much, but still he was alive. I felt like heart was in my throat and it was hard to breath pasted the lump. The dwarf cut my shirt next. All my fight had been taken from me, I just wanted my brother and I to leave together. Like we always somehow managed.

"Tell us what you were doing with the maps." Twigs stood before me now. Her voice was calm and she spoke as if speaking to a child.

When I didn't answer the assassin women stepped forward, clutching a dagger in her hand. "Like the last one?" The assassin asked smiling.

"No, Zavra. Wormtail, do you have a cleric here?" Twig's voice was an uncanny calm, it unsettled me to my core.

"Yes…" The halfling gave a puzzled look at Twigs and then in my direction.

"Kill him. Maybe he will be more willing to cooperate after he finds out that I have no boundaries." My breath caught, and I almost choked. Panicked and wide eyed I looked around the room. Zavra stepped back from Twigs. Wormtail nervously fidgeted in his chair. My eyes dropped to Kydrin's unconscious body. Kill my brother? No, there was some amount of honor among thieves, they wouldn't kill a man who was unconscious... but it wasn't my brother they were talking about killing.

The assassin made her way to me slowly, and gave her dagger a good long look. "You sure you don't want to say anything?" It was then I realized they where going to take my life. My throat constricted as my heart skip a beat. What was that in her voice? Remorse? Pleading? I kept quiet, composed myself, and looked her straight in the eye as she brought the dagger to my neck. I wasn't going to die a coward pleading for my life.


	2. Chapter 2 her slave

Chapter 2

"He is coming back around. Everyone quiet."

This couldn't be. I was dead, why could I hear that women's voice? I felt the sharp cold blade at my throat moments ago. I could feel the warmth of my blood spilling on to my shirt. No. No, I had to be dead.

My lungs burst with air as I tried to scream, a hallow, empty choking noise was all I could manage though. Flinging my eyelids open I tried to glare at the women I could feel standing before me. My eyes, however where already accustomed to the darkness from being deceased, therefore everything in the room was a blur of bright white and gray shadows. Muffled voices echoed around the room, mixing with each other to make a strange humming sound. The smell of stale air and blood burned my nose as I tried to steady my breathing. After a few moments I looked again at the figure before me, her body appeared as a gray mass, a white halo gently distinguishing her features.

"If he wont talk now, I will take him with me until he will." The shadow outline of Twigs turned her attention on Bloodgrin. "Brake his arms. I don't want him stabbing me in my sleep."Brake my... what? No. This all a bad nightmare that was taking a turn for the worst. Who where these people? Did they really do all this just to find out what a couple of symbols on a map meant?

The shadows slowly begin to lift from my vision as panic swept through me. Bloodgrin vigorously grabbed my arm with both of his hands. The grin he was named for plastered on his face. I leaned in my chair, away from the orc and struggled to stand and run. My legs where still numb from death and refused to work; the muscles contracted wrong causing my legs to fling under my chair. I attempted to swing at him with my now free hand but it slung, limp at my side. I hung my head as my mind went blank. My eyes came to rest and focus on my brother, or rather his corpse. Snapping sounds echoed through the room, for a moment I hadn't realized the sound was my arms braking. Not one muscle in my body moved while the orc worked. Not one flick of pain shot through my limbs. I was as dead inside as my brother's corpse.

"Irkin no agree with this. It is weird. You humans is weird."

Twigs pulled me down into the dinning area of the inn after she declared me her slave. Now the four intruders, plus one, were gathered in the corner of the inn. They huddled around the table Twigs had shoved me down at; each of them eyeing me up and down suspiciously. Irkin, a kobold by the looks of him, was gathered at the front of the group shaking his lizard like head in disapproval. His eyes where closed and his tinny claws where fists on his hips. He clicked his tongue on the roof of his mouth in a disproving manor.

"What are you going to do when we go in towns? How are you going to hide him?" The nervous blond boy whispered his questions, but the whole group gathered around, nodded wanting answers.

"I will throw a cloak over him." Twigs defended matter-of-factly. "His knowledge of the Night Masks could help us, Kain" Kain seemed content with the answer for now. He reluctantly turned away from Twigs and seated himself at a separate table. Wormtail and Irkin, followed his lead. The three of them eyeing me and whispering at the separate table. The dwarf seated himself at the bar and rested his head on his hand, as he muttered under his breath.

"I'm not sure if I completely agree with this ether." Zavra the assassin whispered to Twigs, the assassin was the only one of the group still standing at the table Twigs and I populated. "We shouldn't take prisoners." She refused to acknowledge my presents at the table, looking only at Twigs. "He is not a prisoner. We can use the info he knows." Twigs kept her voice hushed as she spoke. Even though her group where the only people in the dinning area of the inn this early.

"How are you going to keep him under control? What if he tries to run away? How are you going to bring him along with us, you know Thoreug wont let him on the wagon? You have no plan." Zavra motioned with her hands as she spoke adding emphasis to each question.

"I will figure it out before we leave town. Let me see my money." Twigs held out her hand and Zavra reluctantly dropped a small bag in her palm. "We'll be back by noon. Meet you guys here for lunch?"

"Yeah, and try to be careful, he is an assassin." Zavra answered monotone.

Twigs yanked me from my chair by my arm. I could feel the sharp sting from her grasp on my broken bones from being touched, but the pain seemed distant. As we walked out of the inn Twigs threw a long black cloak over me. The cloak was far too big on my small frame. The hood folded over my face too low and the bottom grazed the floor in some places; the extra fabric threatening to trip me.

Once out on the streets I followed Twigs mindlessly. I watched the back of her shoeless feet as she whinnied through allies, down back roads, and across the major streets of Kindrace. The early morning air was crisp and cold, and people in Kindrace where just starting their day. I hated them all with a white burning fire. They got to go about their normal day in their normal predictable lives. I was trapped now. Everything was stripped from me again. In just one night.

Twigs stopped in front of a shop. The old wooden building looked unkempt like most the places in Kindrace. You could smell the mold that was growing on the decaying place. Almost taste the damp wood from the morning dew. I kept my eyes on the dirt road and the bottom of my cloak. It sounded like she tried the handle but it was locked. "The shop keeper must not be here yet." Her voice was soft. A lot different then when in the interrogation room. "Why did you try to steel those maps from us?"

I didn't say anything for a long time, and just watched my breath turn into buffs in the cold air. There was no hostility in her voice like back in the inn. Like she was just asking a simple every day question. "We where told to. The marks on them are of different camps and posts set up by the Night Masks. They don't want anyone to have that kind of information." My words sounded flat. I wasn't even sure why I was explaining any of this, suppose there was no point in resisting anymore.

"Do you have a name?" Twigs' voice was as flat as mine when she asked. My name? Why would she want to know my name? She killed my brother then she killed me, and now she wants to know my name? She is mental. Crazy! I didn't speak another word while we waited for the shop to open.

When Twigs finished her shopping, several hours and five shops latter, she was the proud owner of a leash, caller, and donkey. Wormtail tracked us down around noon and informed Twigs that the group was re-supplying and would meet her by the wagon. In Kindrace all the wagons where checked and left in a dedicated area. They where supposed to be watched but the guards where not professional by any means.

The wagon as the group called it was a misleading word. It resembled the appearance of a war wagon, fully armed with a ballista, and reinforced armor sides and wheels. The stupid wagon was hell to brake into for my brother and I. The group was loading up supplies onto the wagon and took no real notice of our arrival. Twigs fastened the donkey to the back of the wagon, and motioned for me to stand by the animal.

I watched as Twigs, Wormtail, Irkin, and Thoreug walked to a more secluded area where they began chatting. Wormtail produced the maps from his backpack and Twigs pointed out different areas. They all seemed to come to a conclusion and rolled up the maps. Thoreug gathered the group around him and announced the plans, "The maps point out different areas that the Night Masks are." The dwarf paused and let out a belch. "We are going to head to the closest area marked on the map and see what's there." Kain and Zavra seemed to accept this and loading began again.

Within an hour the wagon with a weeks worth of supplies for six people was loaded. The horses where tied and pawing at the ground to get moving. With a few sideways glances from the town guards we where passing by the town gates. Me on the donkey, Twigs walking beside me, Thoreug manning the wagon, Wormtail twitching around on top of the wagon, Irkin Kain and Zavra inside.


End file.
